


Piece by Piece

by NewAgeVintage



Category: The Venture Bros
Genre: Childhood Trauma, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-24
Updated: 2018-09-24
Packaged: 2019-07-16 09:31:30
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,130
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16083317
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NewAgeVintage/pseuds/NewAgeVintage
Summary: Rusty turns a year older and dwells on the things that made him into the broken man he is today. Thankfully Brock is there to pick him up and put him back together. Established relationship, could fit in pretty much anywhere after season 4.





	Piece by Piece

**Author's Note:**

> I'm back at it again at the Brock/Rusty hell factory. Some exploration of Rusty's trauma followed by a little bit of comfort porn. The tenses are all over the place, but I honestly just wrote this out as a PTSD coping thing so I didn't want to go over it with a fine tooth comb.
> 
> Title is 'Piece by Piece' by The Tubes
> 
> "Anyone would think there's nothing wrong,   
> She looks so satisfied   
> But I've known about her much too long   
> She can't conceal what she feels inside  
> I'm gonna show her that piece by piece, inch by inch   
> I can put her back together again   
> I'll supply the love she lacks   
> And give her back exactly what she needs   
> Bringin' it piece by piece"

Trauma can build a great many things in a man. Complexes and disorders and obsessions. Like any other wound the more you leave it untreated the more it festers. Some only developing into strange personality quirks, and others into debilitating patterns of thought. Rusty Venture was currently stuck in a particularly devastating moment. It was his birthday and he was lingering on the memories of what made him this way.

No lights were on in the living room as the sunlight started to fade. Rusty had been sitting on the couch, staring at the ceiling for hours. The boys had baked him a cake and roped Brock into helping them surprise him after dinner. It was a genuinely nice gesture, but the jolt of being caught off guard and the jarring reminder of his age got to him.  
He’d told the boys the story of his 16th birthday before, and Brock had heard some of the more serious events of his childhood. However the more devastating memories where his alone. Another birthday memory comes to mind.

A 13 year old Rusty wakes up on his birthday in the dark. His learning bed won’t open and claustrophobia kicks in quickly. He passes out and doesn’t realize he’s being pulled out of the bed and taken somewhere. He wakes up again with a bag on his head and tied to a chair. Preparing himself for the worst he tries his best not to cry when he feels the bag being removed. A large group of his father's friends are all in front of him yelling ‘Surprise!’ and singing happy birthday. By the time he realizes what’s actually going on he’d already broken down into loud sobbing. His father quickly scolded him for reacting so poorly, it was just a joke after all.

The sun had finished setting and he was alone in the dark. He stood up and crossed the room to pour a drink, finishing it immediately and pouring another before going back to the couch. He turns on the TV, and in a moment of self loathing plays the Rusty Venture Cartoon.

-

Around 9 o’clock Brock checks that the boys are in their rooms and goes downstairs. Before he sees Rusty he hears the cartoon version of him. He starts going down the stairs faster. He knew that the surprise cake had been a bad idea and Rusty only ever watched his old show when he was upset.

Rusty is curled up on the couch staring unblinking at his childhood self running through a jungle. An empty glass sits on the coffee table in front of him. Brock approaches him and kneels the look at him eye level. “You really shouldn’t watch this crap.” He grabs the remote out of Rusty’s hand and turns off the TV.

Rusty rolls over to face the back of the couch. He closes his eyes when he feels himself being lifted up and hefted over a wide shoulder. A door opens and then closes and he’s lowered onto his bed. Hands gently remove his clothes and drape a blanket over him.

The sound of clothing rustling is followed by the warm press of another body against his back. Strong arms gently wrap around him, pulling him closer.

“You know you can talk to me Rust.” The words are followed by the sensation of lips on his neck. Kisses make their way up to his ear, “You didn’t do anything to deserve what happened to you.” Fingers lightly run up and down his side. “You’re worth so much more than that.”

The mattress shifts and Rusty finally opens his eyes to see Brock leaning over him.

“Hey Rust.”

“Hey Brock.”

“Roll over, I’ll rub your back.” Rusty complies and Brock straddles his legs, hands working at the knots in his shoulders. It takes a while for him to relax into the touch, but eventually he lets the tension go. Callused thumbs rub circles into the muscles of his neck and back.

Rusty lets out a groan as a particularly dense knot is worked out of his neck. Satisfied with the response Brock moves lower down his back, kneading the muscles on either side of his spine as he goes. Rusty makes another noise, closer to a moan this time and Brock focuses on the spot that caused the reaction.

Within minutes Rusty is arching up into the touch and gasping into his pillow. Brock is now playfully massaging his ass and leaning forward so Rusty can feel his breath on the back of his neck. A finger dips between his cheeks and lightly passes over his asshole. Quiet moaning turns into heated panting as Brock ghosts over that spot again.

“Ya sure you’re up for that Rust?”

“Yes! Brock, yes!”

Brock smiles at the enthusiastic response and presses his lips against Rusty’s neck while pressing a finger into him. Brock only pulls away briefly to grab a small bottle out of the drawer of the bedside table. Cold lubricant makes Rusty shiver before relaxing again as Brock works him open, adding another finger.

Cotton sheets rub against his dick as Rusty ruts against the mattress. He can feel himself getting close as Brock hits his prostate. He stutters out a warning that he won’t last like this and Brock shushes him.

Moving his hand quicker now, Brock’s fingers brush against that spot repeatedly. Rusty buries his face into the pillow to muffle the loud moan he lets out when he cums. Brock continues, slower as he works Rusty through his orgasm.

Satisfied with a job well done, Brock lays down next to Rusty, pulling him back into his arms. They stay like this for a while and eventually Rusty starts to talk. He tells Brock about his father, about the trauma he’s lived through. Brock listens quietly as things that were previously just assumptions are confirmed to him. He’d known Rusty long enough to recognize the complications of childhood PTSD, but he was given few specifics to work off of.

Rusty rambles about the times he’s been kidnapped, the death threats, and all of the injuries he’s sustained. He always returns to the subject of his father, talking in hushed tones like the man would somehow overhear him. The gaps in memory that he describes remind Brock of the gaps the twins suffer after being revived as clones, but he doesn’t bring it up.

Eventually Rusty stops talking, either out of things he’s willing to discuss or just too tired to keep going. “Uh, thanks Brock… for listening.” Brock says something along the lines of ‘of course’, but Rusty’s asleep before he can hear it.

Later that night Brock gets up, checking that his companion is still asleep, and burns the Rusty Venture Cartoon tapes.


End file.
